Sudbury junior curling team to compete at the national level

Sudbury's Horgan family is no stranger to the world of curling.

Tanner and Jacob Horgan are getting ready to compete with their team in the Canadian Junior Curling Championships, after winning five Northern Ontario Championships in a row. 

And Jenny and Tracy Horgan are also set to compete with their team in the Northern Ontario Scotties.

Their father, Gerry, coaches Tanner and Jacob's team.

"I'm a better coach than player," he said with a laugh.

"I've always curled, but more at the club level. I've been a teacher all my life so coaching and teaching really is very similar."

This weekend, Gerry, Tanner, Jacob and teammates Nicholas Bissonette and Maxime Blais will go to the Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Shawinigan, Que.

Over the last two years, the team has won bronze and silver metals at the event.

Tanner says the past experience will help.

"We had a very good provincials," he said.

"The nationals have become a regular part of our season. We're very familiar with how the whole week plays out and what we can expect."

Being a coach and a dad

Gerry says he's been working with the team on the technical aspects of the sport.

"Mostly what you work on still is just the slide, the release and the sweeping," he said.

"The mental part, you can only do so much."

As coach, he says he's pleased to be able to support his sons.

"The other side is it can get maybe a little bit more emotional because you try to just put on your coach's hat but it's always there that you're going home with them," he said.

"You can't separate it entirely."

Tanner says he appreciates that curling is a part of his family.

"It is nice having someone to talk to at home as well, anything that comes up on my mind about curling, I have someone to talk to," he said.